The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and, more particularly, to a printing system having a printing head scanning mechanism suitable for performing printing on a large paper sheet.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer mechanism of a conventional printing apparatus. A printing head 1 is disposed in the vicinity of a platen 3 for feeding a paper sheet 2. The printing head 1 is reciprocally supported by a guide bar 4 which is disposed to be parallel to the platen 3. In addition, the printing head 1 is fixed on a head belt 5. The head belt 5 is looped to be parallel to the guide bar 4 and is driven by a head motor 6. A flat cable 8, extending from a control printed circuit board 7, is connected to the printing head 1. The printing head 1 is energized through the cable 8. One end of the platen 3 is connected to a drive stepping motor 10 through a gear mechanism 9.
The printing head 1 performs thermal printing on the paper sheet 2 in response to a control current flowing from the control printed circuit board 7, while the head belt 5 is driven by the head motor 6 and the printing head 1 is fed in the right and left directions along the guide bar 4. Line feed can be performed by driving the platen 3 by means of the stepping motor 10.
In the conventional printing apparatus described above, in order to print on a wide paper sheet, a length W of the printer mechanism along the longitudinal direction thereof must be increased, and the lengths of the respective parts such as the platen 3, the guide bar 4, and the head belt 5 must be increased. At the same time, the capacities of the head motor 6 and the stepping motor 10 must be increased. Therefore, the component parts become more expensive, and the printing apparatus as a whole is enlarged. In addition to these disadvantages, increased power consumption, results in higher costs.